SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds begin their 2026-27 training camp on Wednesday, and the team has announced the preliminary roster ahead of their first practice. The initial roster consists of the following:

Forwards (10): #13 Kale Kessy, #15 Declan McDonnell, #17 T.J. Tynan, #18 Juraj Pekarcik, #20 Matthew Demelis, #21 Jakub Stancl, #25 Sam Stange, #26 Simon Robertsson, #36 Riley Piercey, #88 Chris Wagner

Defensemen (6): #6 Lukas Fischer, #9 Michael Buchinger, #16 Ryan Wheeler, #33 Adam Samuelsson, #38 Michael Suda, #45 Marc-Andre Gaudet

Goaltenders (2): #1 William Lavalliere, #31 Parker Gahagen

The T-Birds' NHL affiliate, the St. Louis Blues, has until September 28 to trim their roster down to 23 players ahead of their season opener on Oct. 2. As a result, the Thunderbirds roster will undergo changes ahead of Springfield's season opening contest at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Oct. 3. 

Springfield will play a pair of preseason games this weekend against the Providence Bruins. The P-Bruins visit the MassMutual Center for a meeting on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. before the clubs reconvene at Amica Mutual Pavilion on Saturday for another 7:05 p.m. puck drop. Friday's game can be seen on AHLTV on FloHockey and heard on NewsRadio 560 AM and 98.9 FM WHYN. 

Fans can stay up to date on the Thunderbirds roster by following the team on social media (@ThunderbirdsAHL) on Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram. 

Thunderbirds' 2026-27 season tickets are available now - fans can reserve their seat by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625).